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I like 2-2.5 years personally. My sisters and I are 4 years apart and it's a nice age gap now, but I think we would have been closer earlier on if we were closer in age. We all sort of went through each stage of life separately and weren't really into the same things all at once.

20-24 months!

For us it'll hopefully be 2.5 between DS and baby#2. If we decide to have a third, it'll be closer to 1-2 years from baby #2.

We were aiming for under 2 years!

I would love to have them 4-5 years apart, ideally. I always admired the older sibling/babysitting/teaching the younger sibling dynamic in my friends' families.
I was close in age with my brother (2 years) and we were not close at all growing up, fought viciously, etc.
Every family is different though

For me it's 2.5 to 3, maybe sooner depending on our financial situation in the next couple years. I will say that my husband and his little brother are five years apart, and have been best friends their entire lives. It really I think is less about the age and more about whether their little personalities will mesh well, which you have no way of knowing. Whatever's best for you and your family will end up working the way it's supposed to!

I'd say between 2 - 3 years.

@californiadreams: So I am going to be the one that says that the ideal spacing is the one that works for your family - I know that it is a cliche, but you can't guarantee what sort of relationship your kids will have with one another as they are indivduals and no timing in the world will make them like or dislike one another more. It wil lbe more about their personalities.
You can however guarentee how #2 will affect your career / finances etc. so for me at least, those are more the things that I consider rather than unknowns!

2.5 years

@californiadreams: My sister and I are 4 years apart, and I was very motherly towards her growing up, and I loved the attention I got from having such a cute baby sister I dressed her up, carried her everywhere, and called her "my baby". I taught her everything - reading, helping me cook, learning to ride a bike. My parents really loved our age gap. My mom said it was really helpful having a "sister-nanny" lol! Now that we're adults, 4 years is no big deal at all!

I wanted under 2 years difference....looks like they are going to be 17 months apart.

We have a 28-month gap. I would have preferred closer to 3 years.

Our kids are 26 months, sometimes I think it would've been nice to have them even closer together.

My twin sisters and I are 18 months apart and we have always been soooo close. I loved it growing up. It's like we were triplets. I however, have no clue how my mom did it with us so close together...and I want a longer gap just for sanity reasons. Ours will hopefully be 2.5-3 years apart.

For us, I am thinking at least 3.5 years apart so that my daughter won't be as needy as a young toddler and can maybe even help a little and understand everything better than, say, a 2yr old. I want to have lots of solo-time with my daughter before potentially adding a sibling, but I would love for them to be close enough to play together as little kids. Though I think personality contributes more to them getting along than age.

My brothers are 6 years older and 9 years younger than me and I got along with my older brother most of the time, but he would also punch me when he didn't get his way (and we get along now), and I never got along with my younger brother, still don't! I had 2 stepsisters as well - one 6 years older and the other 2 years older, and I played with the younger one all the time because we had similar play-styles and personalities.

@californiadreams: I'm four years older than my sister and I thought the age gap worked for us!

I am four years apart from my sister and it worked great growing up, I actually loved not ever being in the same school, gave a me a sense of more independence. I loved that we each had out own friends and activities. We were close growing up and still are now. Overall my goal is 3-5 years between kids because I think that is what will workbest for our family.

We're planning 2.5-3.5 years. I don't know if this is the best gap for children, but I think it's good for us for the following reasons.

1) We get 1 year partially paid maternity leave in Canada if you've worked a certain amount of hours in the previous year. I go back next week when LO is one, so two years back at work will be almost certain to have enough hours before I leave again, even if I had to take medical leave before for any potential complications.

2) We can have an additional unpaid year, where they hold our position. LO#2 being born when LO is three means I can be off work until she goes to kindergarten and only have to pay full time day care for one child when I return to work.

3) I think that's a good gap for our first baby to get a bit of time to be our baby, and hopefully be a little lower needs when a newborn arrives.

4) My sister and I are 3.5 years apart. I thought this was a good gap, because we were close enough in age to be friends, but far apart enough that generally through school we got to have our own space, and friends. ie, she was in primary when I was in intermediate grades, and she came to highschool the same year I left, and there wasn't overlap in sports or potential dating pools so much.

If we were having another LO we'd wait at least 3 years. I think between 3-4 would be ideal for our family.